Hayward hints at changes to board

10:30 PM,
Jan. 8, 2013

LEFT: Local attorney Brian Hooper chaired Mayor Ashton Hayward's Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee, the group that issued a report on the Downtown Improvement Board. RIGHT: Board member John Peacock welcomed the report and said it would help answer the question 'of whether we are doing business the best we can.'

Written by

Carlton Proctor
cproctor@pnj.com

Targeted in a recent study that urges its restructuring, Pensacola's Downtown Improvement Board will take a close look at the report that eventually could lead to a sharp reduction of DIB staff and reach.

What triggered the action during Tuesday's meeting was a brief presentation by Brian Hooper, the local attorney who chaired Mayor Ashton Hayward's Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee.

That report, delivered to the mayor in December, questioned the effectiveness of the DIB and recommended its board voluntarily reduce its five-member staff to a single clerical position housed ...